Things I Love About Michael

• The way Michael tries to put his shoes on (sometimes over a pair of shoes he's already wearing), then gets frustrated and hands Ben or me his shoes, plus our shoes, and then takes our hands and drags us to the door when he wants to go outside.
• When he climbs out of bed when he's done with his nap and I run into him coming out of the bedroom when I go to check on him -- I'm still not used to him getting out of bed on his own!
• The way he walks around with a bag of dried blueberries or a box of rice cakes/breadsticks and then shoves it in my hand when he wants a treat.
• His new nightly ritual:  take a shower, brush teeth, read Goodnight Moon, nurse, give Mommy raspberries.  (He's getting disturbingly good at it, too.)
• How Michael "dances" by stomping his feet whenever he gets excited about something.
• When Michael leans over and reaches for his toy cell phone as soon as I strap him into his car seat.  It's his special car toy!  Thanks, great-aunt Adrianne!
• The way he stops, stares, and then abandons Mommy to chase after a doggy.  (Michael is greatly influenced by his patron, St. Francis -- he loves animals and being outdoors!)
• Michael:  *sneeze*  Me:  "God bless you!"  Michael:  *hysterical laughter*  Works (almost) every time.
• Michael's "hoarding"--he stashes blueberries and soy nuts down his bib or in his high chair, he hides socks in the bed.
• The way he "helps" with chores:  taking laundry out of the dryer and putting it in the basket, then out of the basket and back in the dryer, repeat ad nauseum while I slowly whittle away at the pile putting away clothes; sweeping the carpet with a broom after seeing me sweep the floor; seeing me put away one shampoo bottle that we're not using, then finishing the job by putting away all the rest that we're still using.  He basically sees us doing something and then continues with the next logical progression, even though it's usually not all that helpful!  But it is ridiculously cute.